6
Ben
The sun still hadn’t come up as Ben knocked on the garage door. Lance said he’d be there early, and Ben wanted as much time as he could get with the car. Not only because he wanted to get Beth to Disneyland, but because last night had gone so well, he planned on doing something even better to bring out that smile he saw so many times during his date.
The lights flicked on inside, and Lance came around the counter, coffee mug in hand. He nodded in greeting as he unlocked the door.
“Morning,” Ben said, swiping his hat from his head. He limped through the door, and Lance’s gaze went straight to his foot.
“You all right?”
“I’ll live. You got any more of that coffee?”
Lance led him back to the break area, the scent of donuts and roasted coffee beans overpowering any garage smells—for the time being, anyway.
“Help yourself,” Lance said. “Figure we’re in for a long day.”
His hand went automatically to the bear claw, pausing in its journey. Not the best thing for him, and he’d decided just the night before to make more of an effort to eat healthier and get back to the man Beth would kiss after one simple glance. But he hadn’t eaten, and he didn’t plan on it until around lunch, and he promised himself he’d eat something good for him then.
He moved from the giant bear claw to one of the smaller, plain ones… not that it’d make that much of a difference, but hey, A for effort.
“How you liking Mountain Ridge so far?” Lance asked.
“Love it. Good service, nice people, secluded and accessible all at the same time.” He leaned against the wall and took a hearty bite of his donut. With half of it gone already and his stomach still grumbling, he knew the plain donut wouldn’t be the only casualty this morning. “I kinda love it here.”
Lance nodded, grabbing his own donut to dunk. “Most people do. The town is cursed in that way, too, I guess. Wouldn’t be surprised if you stay much longer than you intended.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You planning on tampering with my car?”
“Wouldn’t need to. The town’s charm’ll be enough to keep ya around.”
Something caught Ben’s eye, and he tilted his head to look out the front windows. A group of joggers was passing by, most of them donning the same shirt and logo on the chest. Lance kinked his neck to see what he was looking at, then chuckled to himself.
“Here come the fire brigade.”
“Fire department?”
“Every morning.”
He watched the whole lot of them pass, swallowing the final bite of his breakfast. No wonder this town was full of beefcakes; he felt like he just watched more than half the population in full-out morning workout mode. That didn’t even count the gym he’d caught a glimpse of yesterday on his way back from the garage. Subconsciously, he pulled at his t-shirt, making sure it didn’t accentuate his growing gut.
He faintly remembered voicing his insecurities last night, but that could’ve been a dream. He couldn’t pinpoint when he’d actually dozed off, but it was a real shame he missed it. Waking up to Beth snuggled up next to him, her face squished into his side and her legs intertwined with his was the very definition of heaven on earth.
Lance smacked the front garage door open to let some air in while they worked. He headed to his axle and brake job while Ben settled in for a lengthy transmission fix. At least his confidence wouldn’t wane in front of an engine; this was where he shined.
Last night, though, Beth made him feel like the Six Million Dollar Man. With the way she touched him, flirted with him… it was almost as if they’d taken a time machine back to their earlier days, only better because they knew so much of each other, went home together, slept together—actually slept, but even that was phenomenal.
Oh but the cherry on top was that strip show. She probably didn’t even intend to make him as hard as a two-by-four, but he could count on one finger how many times she’d wanted to shower together in the past year. His jaw didn’t leave the floor for a solid twenty minutes.
He really didn’t want to piss and moan over her lack of sexual drive; she’d been off and it wasn’t until recently that he figured it was probably due to his weight gain. He was more concerned than anything, and he just wanted to see her happy.
Last night was a good night. Tomorrow was going to be even better.
But how? He still hadn’t figured that part out, but he had all day to hammer out the details.
His stomach was starting to scream at him by eleven-thirty, and he looked longingly at the box of donuts beckoning to him.
“You wanna grab a bite?” Lance said, saving him from another poor eating decisions.
“Yes.”
Lance pushed out from under his car. “Good. I’m starving. And as much as I’d like to believe you’re a smart and wise person, I ain’t leaving my shop alone with ya.”
He let out a laugh. “Understandable.”
“Let’s head to JT’s. Levi, dude who owns the place, is more forgiving when it comes to… this.” Lance gestured to his greased up coveralls. Ben would’ve gone anywhere, but he nodded eagerly at the suggestion; when it came to dirty appearances, Ben won in a landslide.
They cleaned up as best they could with dish soap and sponges—Ben had remembered to shave that morning so the dirt on his face was much easier to get off this time—and then they hopped up in Lance’s truck. and he took them once again down Main. A good ways away, they finally came up by the cursed B&B and the bar across the street. Ben hoped they had turkey sandwiches on the menu.
Lance strode right in and took a spot by the window, sort of tucked away from the crowd. Ben shrugged and followed, assuming the guy knew what he was doing.
Sure enough, as soon as his butt hit the seat, a lively woman came bouncing up, a large tip-worthy smile on her face.
“We don’t serve filthy guests such as yourself,” she teased, canting her hip. Lance pffted.
“I need your wings or I’ll die.”
She grabbed his menu, leveling him with a look. “How in the world you’re not three hundred pounds, I’ll never know.” Her eyes swiveled to Ben, and he matched her friendly grin. “You must be the stranded mechanic,” she said.
“That’d be me.” He stood from his seat and shook her hand, keeping it up even though the amusement in her eyes clearly said she was internally laughing at the gesture. “I’m Ben.”
“Shelby.” She turned to Lance. “Learn something from this man about manners, will you?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
She rolled her eyes back to Ben as he took a seat. “You want a minute to look over the menu?”
“You got turkey on wheat?”
“Sure do.”
“That, please. And a giant glass of water.”
The corner of her lip twitched upward. “You know I’m giving Lance crap about his order, right? If you want something heartier, I won’t poke fun.”
He laughed. “Normally I would join in on the wing feast, but…” He playfully slapped his gut. “I’m working on my ‘after’ photo.”
Her brows pinched together briefly before the lightbulb went on over her head. She giggled at his joke and reached across him for the menu. “All right. But for the record, you’re already ‘after photo’ ready.”
She had to be searching for tips. There was no way she actually thought that. But Ben was flattered just the same, and he hoped Beth found the description just as accurate.
As Shelby bounced off to fill their orders, Ben excused himself to go make a call. It felt weird to be on vacation with Beth, but not actually with her. He sure hoped she was having a good time.
“Hey,” she answered, her voice chipper. He breathed a sigh of relief.
“How’s it going?”
“Pretty darn good. I’ve stayed in my pajamas all day, only gotten out of this bed to pee, and I’m now on book two of this series I can not put down.”
A smile tugged at his mouth, and he leaned his back against the wall, just imagining Beth in that exact scenario.
“I miss you,” he said, the words familiar, yet foreign all at once. He tried to recall the last time he’d said them to her, but he couldn’t think of it. He knew he’d thought it a lot over the past year, but it was in instances when she was physically present, but her mind felt so far away.
She was quiet for a beat, and he imagined she’d tell him they’d been together just a few hours ago. Instead she said, “I miss you, too.”
“You okay if I work a bit late?”
She let out a mock sigh. “I guess.”
“I’ll come back right now if you want.”
“Ben, fix our baby.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, okay. But tomorrow is all you and me.”
“Looking forward to it.”
The ring in his pocket suddenly felt like it was on fire. He reached in and ran a thumb over the latch, nearly blurting out the question right then and there.
“Go work,” she said after a few seconds.
“You want to finish your book, don’t you?”
“It’s a really good part, Ben.”
He laughed. “See you tonight.”
He brought the phone down in front of him, smiling at the picture he set up for Beth’s profile. She was making a face, trying to do duck lips through giggles. He wanted to marry this girl, spend the rest of his days falling asleep next to her, fighting over the remote, eating questionable dinners, and having kids. A year ago he was almost certain she’d say yes to him, but for some odd reason, he wasn’t as sure anymore.
“Well,” a voice came from his right. Shelby stood with her hip canted, a knowing look on her face. “That is a man in love, right there.”
“You caught me.”
“What’s her name?”
“Beth.”
Her mouth popped open. “Your names are Ben and Beth? How cute!”
“Thanks. We worked hard on it.”
“So where’s she at while you work on your hunk of junk?”
His defenses went up. “Not junk. Just a little old.”
She waved her hand at him as if she couldn’t care less and just wanted her original question answered. He laughed.
“We’re staying at the Mountain Ridge. Amanda and Justin have been more than generous.”
“She’s alone all day?”
“She loves it.”
Shelby took one glance around the chaotic atmosphere of the lunch rush and nodded. “Yes, I can see that.”
An idea hit him. After all, a woman’s opinion might be helpful. “I want to do something big for her tomorrow. Something special. Any ideas? I don’t really know the area…”
Her teeth snaked out over her bottom lip and tugged. “What does she like?”
“Uh… reading, bowling—but we did that last night—hot chocolate, dancing, country music, Disney movies… well, Disney everything, biking, sleeping—”
“Wait, go back.”
“To what?”
A light sparkled in her eyes, whatever idea she’d thought of taking over her entire expression. “I’ve got it.”
“What?”
She only answered with an excited grin. “When you get that hardcore action, you better thank me.”